Boeing 787 Grounding Sends Europe Regulators to U.S. for Review

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- European aviation regulators are
heading to the U.S. next week to help determine the cause of the
Boeing Co. 787 malfunctions, as airlines draw up plans to
accommodate the aircraft grounding now entering its fourth week.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing have
invited a technical team from the European Aviation Safety
Agency, Dominique Fouda, a spokesman for the Cologne-based
agency, said in an e-mail

“Boeing will brief EASA specialist on the airplane systems
and the design of the battery, as well as potential design
changes intended to address the identified unsafe condition and
enable return to service,” Fouda said.

U.S. investigators said yesterday they remain “weeks
away” from determining what caused battery failures on the 787,
which prompted the Jan. 16 decision to ground the fleet of 50
Dreamliners around the globe after a fire on one and an
emergency landing by another. LOT Polish Airlines SA, the only
European operator of the aircraft so far, is seeking special
permission from EASA to return one jet from Chicago to Warsaw.

Boeing and the FAA “are reviewing a wide range of areas
including but not exclusively battery enclosure design,” Fouda
said. EASA’s visit “is to review Boeing activity surrounding
the 787 battery and actions associated with addressing the FAA
airworthiness directive on the airplane.”

Stranded Aircraft

LOT still is waiting for a response from EASA to fly home
its stranded 787, the carrier said by e-mail. If EASA and Polish
authorities approve, the carrier would make a formal request to
the FAA for the passenger-less flight.

U.S. authorities are allowing Boeing to move one 787 today
to Washington state from Texas in a non-commercial flight.

TUI Travel Plc, one of the next customers in Europe due to
receive the long-haul airplane, said today it’s working on
contingency plans in case the grounding persists. The U.K. tour
operator is scheduled to start holiday flights using the
aircraft from May 1. Chief Executive Officer Peter Long said
there were no plans to cancel the 13 airliners on order.

Norwegian Air Shuttle AS, Europe’s fourth-biggest discount
airline, is to get its first 787 in April, and the company will
“look for solutions to take care of our passengers if a delay
should occur,” spokeswoman Anne-Sissel Skanvik said by e-mail.
The carrier could resort to so-called wet leases, the short-term
rental of aircraft including crew, she said.

The Norwegian discount airline has said it has already sold
most tickets for its long-haul 787s flights to New York from its
home airport in Oslo and from Stockholm.

British Airways, the largest European airline to get 787s
this year, said it still expects to start receiving the aircraft
from May.

“We remain committed to taking delivery of the aircraft
and we are confident that any safety concerns will be addressed
by Boeing and the relevant authorities,” an airline spokesman
said.